The Kenosha telegraph. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1860-1888, 1887-06-17
FORTUNES SWEPT AWAY.

4 Big Drop in the Price of Coffee Causea
Heavy Faiiures,-A Decline of Over Six
Cents Pound in Two WeeEs-One Eli m
Caught to the Extent of 81, 900, 900,
While Another Is Liable for 100000.
NEW YORK, June 14-Octoberc coffee sold
at noon yesterday at s,7:so Four days
ago at noon it sold at S22.9 This quotation
is for 100 pounds. This decline has been
about TO cents per pound in four days
about as sensational decline as
often takes place in speculation. The
bulls in coffee have been mainly
the Brazil planters, who began buy
ing at New York. There have also been
Arnold & Co. mot the old coffee king, but
his sony, Scott & Sons and Henry Henly
& Co. These people have made, probably,
in the bull campaign Of the last twelve
months, during which the price of coffee
has gone from seven cents per pound to
twenty-five cents, about 5000, 900.
After coffee got past fifteen cents
an enormously rich bear clique began
operations. Part of this clique was
located at Havre, which up to five
years ago was the great coffee mart. Kauf.
man, Runge & Co., of Galveston, and
Gruner & Co., of New York, also were on
the bear side. The Dutch, who con.
troll the Java coffee trade, also
fought the advance and actually start
ed the great government auction at low
range for speculative purposes. The bears
did nothing but lose money until
the last week, when the selling combined
with the fears of riots and revolutions in
Brazil started the break. Since last
Wednesday coffee holders have been in
panic Arbuckle, the great coffee-roaster
of New York, has also been savage
fighter of the advance.
All through yesterday forenoon the SELL
ing was coupled with the widest scenes
ever witnessed in the exchange, and in all
the offices there were knots of brokers
gathered discussing the prospects Of re-
covery. In the afternoon there was some
hope of a rally, but the heavy selling con-
tinued and soon the price fell off in
heavy fluctuations until it reached
fifteen cents pound. This decline
was accompanied by the notice of suspen-
sion of three firmsB. G. Arnold & Co.,
Norton, Weyl Il Bevan, and Mackay &
Small After the annouu cement Of these
failures an organized effort was made by
the prominent houses like O'Donahue,
Gruner & Crossman to sustain the
market, and they succeeded in causing a
rally of about one cent all around.
The Brazilian party started to buy coffee
after the Gruner- Crossman syndicate adj
vanced the price from eight to eighteen
cents pound. Since then the syndicate
have been bears on the market and are
said to have unloaded all their 'long stuff"
on the Brazillans. The extreme decline is
from q. 30 cents two weeks ago to fifteen
| cents yesterday, or over six and quarter
cents pound.
The sales of the day-412, 900 bags-were
twice as large as on any previous day in
the history of the exchange, 225, 200 bags
being sold after the second call. After the
announcement of the failure OF Arnold
nearly every option fell, but with two ex-
| ceptions, rallied again and closed at a
higher figure than was quoted just before
| the failure. June coffee was naturally
| most heavily affected, dropping 500 on
| the 100 pounds and only rallying 81. As
on the hundredweight at closing. Late in
the afternoon private cable from Brad.
shaw, of Rio Janeiro, announced that the
| expectation of September coffee would
| probably be reduced from g $50. 900 bags to
| considerably less than 1900, 900 bags.
There was some talk of trouble in bank
| ing circles as a result of the panic, but as
| the banks only loaned fifty per cent. of the
| market value on coffee it is hard to sec
| how any OF them could have been in
| volved. Macl1ay & Small, one of the sus-
| pended firms, are supposed to have liabil-
| tiles of $500, 000 The Liabilities of the other
| firms are small except that of g. G. Ar
| mold u Co., whose failure attracted the
| most attention, as it Is the most prominent
| house in the trade. Its fall was gener-
| ally anticipated. The senior member
| of the firm was caught in 1882 by the col.
| lapse of one of the largest deals ever at
tempted in coffee, and was compelled to
| suspend, with over $1,000,000 Liabilities.
| He started in business again, however,
and was successful in all his ventures. He
| is credited with being the founder of the
| Coffee Exchange, and was at one
time its president On August
| 10 last he formed partnership
with his SOP, and they have done strictly
commission business He ascribes the
| failure to the fact that his customers were
| SO far away that it was impossible
| to reach them in time to obtain suf-
ficient margin 30 meet the decline.
He could make no statement of his
liabilities and said that he could not say
any thing about the chances of resuming
| Outsiders claim that the frn has been
carrying 500, 210 bags of coffee for the Rio
de Janeiro operators known as the Brazil
| ian party, and it is estimated that the liza
bilitiea will amount to over 81, 000, 0J1